Askinosie Chocolate

Cocoa Origin Travelogue: Direct Trade across three continents Askinosie Chocolate | Philippines | Tanzania | Ecuador | Zamora | Honduras 2009-2016 | Madagascar 2018

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2019 Origin Trip #4: Mabubu, Tanzania

“This years' profit share was one of our biggest ever because it was a great year for sales of chocolate made with their beans. We always couple the profit share with tasting chocolate, which Lawren and I hauled in our carry-ons. The farmers loved the new Dark Chocolate + Avocado Bar ("parachichi" in Swahili!) made with their beans, as well as our Dark Chocolate Covered Malt Balls." - Shawn

“This year my husband, Scott, was able to travel with us. It was extremely special to host a session with him for 200+ Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys about healthy relationships.

We discussed topics like respecting yourself and your partner, setting healthy boundaries, choosing someone who supports your dreams and being your own support system above all else. We fielded astute questions from these bright students for hours past our allotted time, until our conversation spilled out onto the road.I look at these students and know: our planet is going to be OK with them as our future." - Lawren

"This month marks the three-year workiversary of our Tanzania Field Representative, Saraphiner. In a great circle of events she, herself, is a graduate of Empowered Girls. Saraphiner manages our Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys Clubs, works with our farmer partners weekly on cocoa bean maintenance and has been overseeing the creation of the Chekechea we're building in partnership with our farmer partners. In short, she's a force and it's been an honor to watch her grow in this role." - Lawren  

"This year, we won a medal from the Academy of Chocolate for our Dark Chocolate + Peppermint Bar, made with our Mababu cocoa beans. As a principle, we always share these awards with our farmer partners-- we wouldn't win them if it weren't for their outstanding cocoa beans. At the conclusion of our profit share meeting, we presented the farmers with a banner recognizing this award and ballpoint pens engraved with the honor." -Shawn

"If you've followed us for a while, then you're familiar with the story of my friend, Twawbwike, whom I met on my first visit to Tanzania in 2014. Twabi has overcome adversity unlike any I have known, and she rose to become not only the top girl at her school... but the top girl at school EVER, in the history of its existence. She also became president of the chapter of Empowered Girls at her school. She's now thriving at university in Dodoma and hopes to work in community development when she graduates. Each year she accompanies us to Mababu village to work with our farmer partners for the week, and it's always the highlight of my trip. She is a light." -Lawren

"We were able to spend more time than ever with our farmer partners in their homes and shambas. We inspected some trees, discussed certain pests and fungi they've been dealing with, celebrated the electricity some have been able to bring to their homes (part of the co-op's Vision plan my dad and I helped them write back in 2014) and shared snacks in their kitchens. We also visited two separate farmers who had recently lost loved ones and paid our respects (called "pole" in Swahili). One of the farmers was a widow, and I was particularly moved when Mama Mpoki (the Chairwoman of the group we work with) explained that the co-op decided a few years ago to extend membership to the widows of former members, as long as they wished to carry on the cocoa harvesting." -Lawren

"On this trip, we were able to witness the immense progress on a very special project: a Chekechea (preschool) that will begin educating 300 kids in January. This is a project initiated and owned by our farmer partners, and our Chocolate University Foundation has funded the construction and start-up costs. The farmers are providing all operational funding and management of the school. As something that we've been working on with the farmers for over a year, it was an emotional experience to see the actual building, which is being built brick-by-brick by folks in the village. It’s truly a community effort. Students are beginning to register soon, and I hope to be back for the grand opening of the school in January." -Shawn

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2019 Origin Trip #3: Zamora- May 2019

Monica, our lead farmer partner in Zamora, Amazonia, holds the single origin chocolate bar (now featuring a 2019 Good Food Award emblem!!) made with her co-op’s beans. 

Shawn spent a very rainy day yesterday exploring the small cocoa farms of our Arriba-Nacional-growing farmer partners in Zamora, located in the “cloud forest”. 

The indigenous Shuar tribe have lived here for thousands of years and have been growing and harvesting cocoa--originally used for a drink--since approx 3,300 BC. The beans we purchase from this village are descendants of the originals and the same is true for the farmers we are buying from, including Monica whose family has been growing cocoa for generations.

Shawn met with the entire co-op to taste-test chocolate, share profits and discuss next year’s contract. We’re honored to work with the amazing farmers of Zamora, and we think you can taste this partnership in the chocolate.

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2019 Origin Trip #2: Ecuador- May 2019

This was Shawn's fourteenth visit with Vitaliano; we've been buying outstanding Arriba Nacional cocoa beans to make our Ecuador chocolate bars from his small family farm since 2006!!

The morning was spent walking the farm together to examine the beautiful green-and-yellow Arriba Nacional cocoa pods, then visiting the fermentation boxes and drying pads where Vitaliano checked on the progress of the beans. 

After a lunch of ceviche made by Vitaliano's wife, Norma, Shawn did what we do on every origin trip: reviewed the financial statements explaining sales from the previous year and handed over the profit-share cash. This was followed by a full tasting of all Askinosie bars made with Vitaliano's family's beans, including our recent Gold award-winning Coconut Milk Chocolate Bar. This is direct trade, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

It's customary for us to commemorate awards we win for our chocolate bars by celebrating with our farmer partners when we visit. After all, we couldn’t do it without them!! Their excellent cocoa beans are integral to the success of our chocolate bars because great flavor begins with great beans. Winning these awards and sharing the wins with our farmers is proof for us that direct trade works, those better relationships equal better products. Our successes are their successes too, and we’re proud of these partnerships!

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2019 Origin Trip #1: Davao- January 2019

This year marks our eleventh anniversary of being the first chocolate makers in the world to export cocoa from the Philippines, and of collaboration with our lead farmer partner, Peter Cruz. 

Together with Peter and Johnny Silva, Peter's partner and the farm manager, Shawn visited the post-harvest and fermentation site and inspected our next shipment of cocoa beans. 

After a cut-test and thorough analysis of random bean samples, Shawn shared profits from last year’s crop--our biggest profit share with this origin yet!--and discussed next year’s contract. 

We’re excited because this year’s beans are better than ever! We can’t wait to get these beans in our factory in the coming months and start making chocolate with them. Without these direct trade relationships with esteemed farmer partners, we couldn’t make great chocolate.

While in the area, Shawn was also able to visit the site of our next Chocolate University School, Cadalian Elementary School, adjacent to one of the farms where cocoa beans we purchase are grown and harvested. We're excited to share more details on the exciting new developments in this program, coming soon. 

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2018 Origin Trip #4: Tanzania- July 2018

After 60+ hours of travel, the 2018 Chocolate University Class arrived in Tanzania!! The final leg of the trip included a long bus ride to the remote village to meet our farmer partners and over the next few days we'll be spending time inspecting and grading our next shipment of beans, sharing profits, tasting chocolate, and launching a couple of really special projects.

Lawren here, today was a very special day on origin trip Tanzania, one I've been looking forward to for months. With the help of our Chocolate University Executive Director, Missy, and our Tanzania Field Rep., Sarahiner, our group of travelers split into 4 separate groups and visited each of the schools in the district where we sponsor Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys clubs-- nearly 600 students. We hosted “Straight Talk” sessions-- conversations about sexual + reproductive health, agency, empowerment, and visioning + goal setting. Our amazing Chocolate University 2018 students participated in a panel-style discussion and fielded questions from the students, helped them fill out resource worksheets, and soaked up some inspiration and wisdom from the Tanzanian students. There was singing, dancing, laughter, and a few tears. We have so much to learn from this village community and have plans to host more "Straight Talk" sessions in the future.

Have you ever harvested cacao? Our Chocolate University 2018 students have! We spent a very special day working alongside our farmer partners this weekend on origin trip Tanzania. In small groups (plus our skilled Swahili translators), our students spent a morning in the homes of some cocoa co-op members--Gilbert, Mr Livingstone (and Mama Mpoki), and Potifer--and learning how to harvest pods in their shambas. We met their families, learned more about each other's cultures, and enjoyed tea and snacks together. We learned a lot, but more importantly we deeply appreciated their radical hospitality.

The Chocolate University group supported our Mababu cocoa farmers in launching a preschool ("chekechea") for young children in the village. You may recall we facilitated a Vision of Greatness with the farmers 4 years ago for their co-op. One of their Vision points was to support children in their community. This week while in the village, we raised a flag to dedicate the future site of the preschool. Even more excitingly, we hosted a day camp with nearly 300 preschool-age children of Mababu, to give them a taste of what the chekechea will be like. 

At the conclusion of #origintripTanzania, we gathered the co-op together for the final meeting of the week and shared profits with our Mababu farmer partners. First, some students addressed the group and shared their thoughts on their experience over the last week. We reviewed the profit share statement line by line, revenues and expenses, in Swahili and English. Then Shawn and Lawren handed over cash that the co-op will decide how to distribute and/or invest. Afterwards, the farmers bid us goodbye with a special song and dance as we boarded our coaster to head home.

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2018 Origin Trip #3: Zamora- April 2018

After meeting with Vitaliano, our lead farmer partner in Ecuador, I made the short trip to see our newest farmer partner group in Zamora, Amazonia. Bringing chocolate for two origin trips is a challenge, but a necessary one. On every single trip we not only bring cash to profit share--we also bring chocolate made with their cocoa beans (and sometimes our other origins, for comparison). 

Our farmer partners are artisans, whose expert handiwork directly impacts the flavor of our chocolate bars. Their superb techniques in growing, harvesting, fermenting, drying and sorting the cocoa beans ensure the best tasting chocolate possible for all of you to enjoy. One of our aims with Direct Trade is to honor their work in every way we can.

This is Monica, our lead farmer partner in Zamora who expertly leads the tiny co-op of smallholder farmers we purchase cocoa beans from for this beautiful new bar of ours. I took this photo of her two days ago-- it was her first time seeing the packaging in person since we released this bar last Fall. Introducing you all to the real faces behind the hard work that goes into making chocolate-- that’s our modus operandi.

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2018 Origin Trip #2: Ecuador-April 2018

I met with our lead farmer partner, Vitaliano, his son, Moises, and the rest of his family, from whom we purchase all of the Arriba Nacional cacao for our beloved Ecuador chocolate bars. Vitaliano and his son are both pictured on our brand new Coconut Milk Chocolate Bar, which I brought for them to taste (they loved it!).

The agenda for the week was packed full of cocoa business. We discussed the outlook for next year’s cocoa bean supply, checked out the post-harvest area where our cocoa beans are dried & fermented, taste lots of chocolate, and of course shared profits from last year’s crop of beans. This is direct trade. 

I also met with Vitaliano, his wife, Norma, and their 3 sons, Moises, David and Daniel to lead them through the visioning process-- a concept central to our business model that Lawren & I wrote about in their book, Meaningful Work. I've always told Vitaliano that he reminds me of my grandfather who was a farmer himself. I brought that back up again this week. I explained that my grandparents lived on their same farm for over 60 years and that once we moved them into town--assisted living--that my grandfather did not live much longer. Vitaliano said, "If your grandfather was here with us now, I am certain we would both understand each other completely, despite the language barrier.

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2018 Origin Trip #1: Davao- January 2018

Shawn met with lead farmer, Peter Cruz, pictured here alongside farm manager, Johnny. They inspected our next shipment of cocoa beans, taking random samples to perform cut-tests to check fermentation, plus checking the moisture content of every bag of beans. 

One of the many benefits of Direct Trade is the ability to spot and correct any issues, whether at the farm or during post-harvest, before the beans arrive at our factory. If we worked with a broker or purchased beans sight unseen, we wouldn’t be able to ensure high-quality beans to make premium chocolate. 

Like every trip, one of the items on the agenda is opening our books and sharing profits. Shawn met with Peter & Johnny to review our financial statements and distribute cash. After reviewing our financial statements, signing the documents and shaking hands, they had a chocolate tasting. It’s imperative to taste batches of chocolate from previous crops from Davao and discuss how future cocoa beans can be tweaked or improved. This is yet another benefit of Direct Trade! 

Peter's son, Pipo, is picking up the family business and currently learning the ins and outs of cocoa farming from his father.

Shawn also visited a new storage and fermentation facility owned by lead farmer, Peter Cruz, just a few miles away from Baguio Elementary, where our A Product of Change initiative has been implemented to provide school lunches for area students. 

While in the area Shawn was able to see the Baguio Elementary school lunch program in action and meet with the principal and teachers who all voted unanimously to continue the Tableya project for another year so that the lunches can be funded. 

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2017 Origin Trip #5: Madagascar- July 2017

After wrapping up the last week of the 2017 Tanzania origin trip, Shawn took a quick detour to Madagascar before heading home! For now, the details are top-secret. But stay tuned for updates on a new project we’re working on with factory-friend and chocolate enthusiast, Zeke Emanuel!

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2017 Origin Trip #4: Mababu, Tanzania- July 2017

Shawn spent most of the week working alongside our farmer partners harvesting cocoa, fermenting and drying beans, and testing moisture content. And of course, we brought lots of chocolate to share with the farmers. This is fun, of course, but it's also a critical component of our Direct Trade practices because most of our farmer partners had never tasted chocolate before we began working with them. The trip culminated with Shawn opening our books and sharing profits.  

Shawn began helping our Tanzania cocoa farmers draft their Vision for their co-op. Five years later, the farmers are accomplishing steps of this goal-setting process one-by-one (like building an office!). One each origin trip, we work with the farmers on their Vision: what challenges are they facing, what successes, and what next steps can we take? On this trip Shawn brought simple leather bracelets for each farmer. He shared that they were our gift from our factory--that we hoped when they looked at it, they would be reminded of their Vision.

Shawn also worked with the inspiring young women and men in our Empowered Girls and Enlightened Boys clubs. The goal of these programs is to foster conversation on important topics like self esteem, visioning and goal setting, sexual and reproductive health, leadership skills, cultural and gender issues, and more. We’re amazed by the results we’re seeing (improved school attendance, improved test scores, and fewer pregnancies to name a few) and inspired by the work these students are doing to build solid foundations of both self and mutual respect.

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2017 Origin Trip #3: Zamora, Amazonia- June 2017

Traveling to Zamora, Amazonia involves a plane, a car, and a boat.

Located in southeastern Ecuador, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, Zamora is lush and fertile, if not challenging to navigate--the tiny village is perched on cliffs, “in the clouds.” The topography is simply stunning and perhaps the most beautiful overall that I've ever seen. The families, many of whom are indigenous, plant their small cocoa farms on terraced land. The cocoa trees are surrounded by "primary" forest (untouched) forest -rainforest.

The indigenous Shuar tribe have lived here for thousands of years. In 2010, archeologists uncovered a vessel with shreds of cocoa molecules which were carbon dated to 3300 BC. The Shuar used the cocoa to make a drink. Fast forward 5,000 years and the beans we purchase from this village are descendants of the originals; the same is true for the farmers we are buying from.

We’re proud to release Zamora as our first new origin since 2010, and our second chocolate bar produced in partnership with a female-led farmer group. Working with small coops helmed by women has become a cornerstone of our direct trade model and we’re honored to work with lead farmer partner, Monica Guaman, who is pictured on the front of the chocolate bar. Monica’s family has been growing and harvesting cocoa for generations. She, along with her husband and adult children, harvest their own small farm and Monica leads the cocoa coop in their village, gathering and fermenting cocoa beans from neighbors who are smallholder cocoa farmers. Like each of our other origins, I visit the village to work with the cocoa farmers, bring chocolate for them to taste, inspect our cocoa beans, and share profits.

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2017 Origin Trip #2: San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador- June 2017

Cocoa Pods, Conferences, & Chocolate Tastings. Notes from Shawn’s 12th Ecuador Origin Trip

In the rainforest. This pod is not perfect. I'm not going to go into all of the details but this pod is beautiful and with care will make some of the best chocolate you've ever tasted. I care about this cocoa pod, but I care more about the people who grew it. You won't find very many posts on our sites of pretty pod pictures. The majority of what you see are pictures of people. I have believed with all my heart from the beginning of our little company that if we pursue meaningful relationships with people the beans will take care of themselves. I think over 10 years that has proven to be the case. Don't get me wrong I like rare and sought after cocoa beans just as much as the next person. And we are continually providing technical assistance. But it's not our primary pursuit and never has been. I've been coming to Ecuador meeting with farmers for 12 years. Even now it is not boring, it is not mundane. The reason is because I started the trip hoping to experience wonder, adventure and friendships. The cultivation of this intention over the years is one of the reasons that our chocolate tastes the way it does. 

For the third year in a row, Shawn attended the ProEcuador agricultural conference as a special guest of the country’s government. He’s pictured here with the Ecuador Minister of Trade! This annual trade show is a big event for the cocoa community and Shawn enjoys meeting all of the small farmers from across the country.

Judging by Vitaliano’s reaction, we think our lead cocoa farmer partner liked our brand new Dark Chocolate + Red Raspberry Bar, made with Del Tambo, Ecuador beans! 

You think it's fog but not really. I am in the clouds in more ways than one. Technically, I'm in a cloud forest at about 2500 ft. This ecosystem is wondrous and mysterious. I kind of feel lighter hiking in it, as if I could fly if I wanted to. The farmers leading me are used to it but don't take this delight for granted. I almost forgot... there's cocoa here too. 

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2017 Origin Trip #1: Davao, Philippines

Shawn met with lead farmer partner, Peter Cruz, to inspect our next shipment of cocoa beans. 

Peter checking the fermentation box full of our Trinitario cocoa beans.

Peter signs our contract and financial statements after Shawn hands over the profit share cash.

Shawn visited our partner schools, Malagos and Baguio, and was able to see our sustainable lunch programs in action.

Shawn spent his Valentine’s Day speaking to 800+ Baguio students and their parents. 

Peter holds a certificate Shawn presented to him to commemorate our 2017 Good Food Award for our Dark Milk + Black Licorice CollaBARation™ bar, made with Davao beans. 

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San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador- September 2016

Vitaliano, our lead farmer partner (who I've been visiting for a decade now!) who is pictured on the front of our Ecuador chocolate bars, takes extreme care on his small farm. The farm, which has been in his family for 74 years, grows the rare and excellent Arriba Nacional cacao. He uses organic practices and his trees and pods beautifully-cared for, and beans superior in flavor to most in the world.

Even after 11 years of coming to Ecuador I still love it. I came to work on our next crop of beans, profit share, and meet new farmers and encourage them. I spent the day on Vitaliano's farm with his son, Moses (who is planning to take over the farm one day), and other kids and grandkids. He cooked lunch for us on his farm. Meat on an open flame, cocoa trees all around, then for dessert--I brought chocolate we made from his beans. What a great day.

We've mentioned before that our lead farmer partner in Davao, Philippines, Peter, is an expert organic cocoa farmer. Vitaliano uses organic practices as well, and while we were walking through his farm I played this video on my iPhone of Peter explaining some of the techniques he uses in the Philippines! Technology sure is crazy. Many people ask me if I'm tired after so many years of this travel and the challenges that arise on every origin trip. But the answer is a resounding "Nope!" The truth is I truly love it. And I love forging friendships like the one I share with Vitaliano and so many farmers across the globe.

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Mababu, Tanzania- August 2016

"This trip changed my hopes for the future by showing me that even a single man can make a huge difference in a community. I always believed that I wouldn't be able to help enough people but Shawn showed me that it is possible to make a significant difference in the world. So now I plan to follow what I once considered just a dream and make it into a goal." - Lelia Ismaio

"I also want to focus my government/policy work towards women’s issues because Mama Mpoki’s leadership of the CCF was empowering." - Amanda Morrison

"This experience is helping me to love more and be welcoming to everyone and enjoy my life, even if it isn’t the best, by returning to simplicity, staying positive and focusing on the things that matter most." Timothy Hodges

"Meeting Fred and going to his farm had the greatest impact on my life. I’ll never forget how he welcomed us by cutting down fresh papaya and coconut. He taught us that ducks raise chickens better than chickens do and that we are too big to climb coconut trees. He shared that because of Askinosie Chocolate, he is able to send his children to the very best schools. He told us how important it is to him that his kids receive the best education and I think it is incredible that he shows his love for his children by doing what is best for them.” - Emma Brand

“I want to start an organization to provide training for girls in developing countries in typically male dominated professions.” - Ronnie Warren

“This trip has confirmed my plans to become a doctor and has made me consider taking a month each year to travel and provide services where they may be lacking.” - Alec Hilton

I just returned from another amazing annual trip to meet with our farmer partners in Mababu, Tanzania-- this time with 14 high school outstanding students from our Chocolate University program. We spent a week inspecting our next crop of cocoa beans, sharing our profits, tasting chocolate and leading strategic planning sessions for the farmer group. Our group also facilitated "Vision of Greatness" writing sessions for more than 400 Mababu middle school students, helped our farmer partners build and install sack gardens for widows in their village and communed with them and their families in their homes. And as always there was lots of singing, dancing, and celebrating. Check out #OriginTripTanzania2016 or follow us @askinosie for an inside scoop. The sentiments shared above are from some of the CU students when asked what most impacted them about the trip. -Shawn

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Davao, Philippines- January 2016

2016 Origin Trip #1: Highlights from Shawn’s week spent with our Farmer Partners 

One of the most important things I do when visiting cocoa farmers is inspect our beans. I can take nothing for granted! Even though we've been working with these fine farmers in Davao for 8 years, I take care each trip to evaluate them carefully, test random samples’ moisture content, roast them over a fire with the farmers, and taste them.

The other critical thing we do is profit share and taste chocolate. I haul cash and chocolate bars halfway across the world on each trip, to share both with the farmers. In our profit share meeting I broke down our calculations by sharing a financial statement. Then we shook hands and the co-op officers signed the document. After this, we tasted various chocolate bars I brought made with their beans, as well as past crops from Davao to discuss how we can improve the beans even more.

We’re now in our fifth year of our Sustainable Lunch Program at Malagos Elementary School, in which we feed 700 students lunch every school day with 100% of funds from the sale of Tableya—which will be back in late Spring. We’re proud to report that teachers and administrators are continuing to see a significant improvement in health and academic achievement.

I'm thrilled that Malagos is working on a sustainability plan for the beginning of 2017 when they will take the lunch program funding over themselves. This is something we've been working toward since the program's inception because it's what's truly sustainable. We will assuredly remain involved in the school in other ways. For example, we are exploring the possibility of early intervention when new students transfer to the school or start kindergarten with signs of malnutrition.

Perhaps most exciting is the launch of our second sustainable lunch program at another local school, Baguio. The Malagos Elementary School lunch Committee agreed last January when I was here to draft a "how to" manual detailing how to do what we did together: sustainably feed lunch to 700 kids a day without donations. (Tons of stuff like budgets and menu planning). Now one year later we had our first joint meeting at the new elementary school, Baguio, this week and the cooperation between the two is better than I could have dreamed. One school in need teaching another school in need. THAT is sustainability. I'm thrilled because this new school lunch project has been exactly one year in the making and is also our 2016 Commitment to Action for the Clinton Global Initiative (hyperlink). We will start feeding lunch to nearly 1000 additional kids at the new school in June from the sale of Tableya (mentioned above), which will be available in late Spring.

I love seeing the care with which organic farming practices are undertaken on our farmer partners' farms. As a natural fertilizer, they use chicken dung and rice hulls. And pruning is a big deal for them. It's one of the most important organic practices because it helps increase yield, prevent disease, enhances the life of the tree, and it's a best harvesting practice because it provides easier access to tree.

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San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador-September 2015

My Ecuador trip last week marks my 10th year of traveling to origin learning about and sourcing cocoa beans from farmers around the equator band of the world. Many things have changed, but many remain a constant:

The same: I still love the travel. I travel to each of our 4 origins every year (Ecuador, Honduras, Tanzania and the Philippines). The trips seem get a little longer each year. For example, door to door for me to Tanzania is about 55 hours. Last week I sat on the tarmac in Miami for 3 hours waiting for a storm to pass and missed several successive flights home. No problem. I love the airports, the people, the excitement, the hotels, pretty much all of it. That has not changed in over a million miles on American Airlines alone. Travel is not mundane and will always be an inspiration.

Changed: When I started traveling to origin countries in 2005 there was basically no internet access and I used AT&T calling cards to talk to my wife or the chocolate factory back home. I remember the days of walking long distances to find an internet cafe. In the last year or so I have found myself pining for the days of challenging connectivity. It was kind of a forced tech sabbatical. This past summer I noticed that I had better cell signal in remote Tanzania than I did on the Arkansas - Missouri border. 

The same: The hospitality I've received from farmers around the world has not changed and neither has my response to it. In fact, I've noticed the hospitality moves me more and more instead of it becoming old hat. Farmers have welcomed me into their homes, fed me, taken me with them to church, prayed for me, given me gifts and it never ever gets old. I could write a book on the hospitality of the rural poor. I am thankful it's unchanged and strong as ever.

Changed: This is kind of inside baseball but I have noticed an overall improvement in the quality of the beans I see around the world in my travels. I am not talking about our beans but all beans in general. This is a good thing for chocolate lovers everywhere.

The same: The sad corollary to #4 is that while quality is up prices paid to farmers are not. The world market price - factoring inflation - has remained stagnant for about 30 years. The bottom line is that the world market commodity price is not high enough to attract farmers to this crop and more importantly the next generation. We pay our farmer partners well above the market price but we're a tiny speck on the tidal wave of price stagnation.

Changed: After 10 years of direct trading with farmers on 4 continents the stress of getting the beans out of the country and into the US as importer, the stress of maintaining relationships with poor farmers from another culture, the stress of maintaining quality, the stress of the economy, all of it has improved dramatically. The driver I've used in Ecuador for many years commented at dinner last week, "Shawn, I cant recall ever seeing you this peaceful, this content." Man, that felt good! I'm grateful for this change and will not take it for granted.